Oh dear, I think I just hit a problem (Rage by Bachman)

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Speedygi81

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2007
813
291
I just started reading the Bachman Books, and I thought Rage was absolutely rubbish?

It was unpolished, rude, offensive and yet tense at the same time, and I have no idea what to make of it. It made me feel ashamed that I liked a writer who wrote such appalling stuff. It was as if he flung loads of moral garbage into a book and got it published.

My goodness..
 

FlakeNoir

Original Kiwi© SKMB®
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
44,082
175,641
New Zealand
I just started reading the Bachman Books, and I thought Rage was absolutely rubbish?

It was unpolished, rude, offensive and yet tense at the same time, and I have no idea what to make of it. It made me feel ashamed that I liked a writer who wrote such appalling stuff. It was as if he flung loads of moral garbage into a book and got it published.

My goodness..

It's been so long since I read this one but a couple of points to consider might be that a) wasn't the story written in the first person? (Meaning that much of the tone would come from Charlie Decker?) and b) wasn't this one of Stephen's very early pieces of work? (Although it was first published in 1977, I thought I'd read somewhere that it had been written quite a bit earlier than this? Marsha would likely know...)

That aside, don't feel ashamed ( :eek: ) I'm sure he wouldn't expect us to like all of his stuff.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
While I respect your opinion SG, for a novel that was written by a 17 year old kid still in high school, I thought it was a really good book. Rage is one of the very first novels written by King, before he found and cultivated his 'voice', although it shows itself throughout the book. Unpolished, rude and offensive it may be, but isn't that what any 17 year old guy (and I am referring to the character of Charlie Decker, not King) is at that age? It held my interest from page one, and that's all I ask for in a novel and a writer. Keep in mind that this was not published under King's name, it was written and told in a different 'voice' than what KIng was known for. Not all King books please everyone. There's a couple that I wish I could have back the time I spent reading them.
 

prufrock21

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2011
2,956
12,657
The Caribbean
I just started reading the Bachman Books, and I thought Rage was absolutely rubbish?

It was unpolished, rude, offensive and yet tense at the same time, and I have no idea what to make of it. It made me feel ashamed that I liked a writer who wrote such appalling stuff. It was as if he flung loads of moral garbage into a book and got it published.

My goodness..
Early King is a juggernaut. His early published writing is no holds barred, no censorship, no apologies, with the four-barrel carburetor of his imagination wide open. Definitely not for everyone.
 

blunthead

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2006
80,755
195,461
Atlanta GA
I just started reading the Bachman Books, and I thought Rage was absolutely rubbish?

It was unpolished, rude, offensive and yet tense at the same time, and I have no idea what to make of it. It made me feel ashamed that I liked a writer who wrote such appalling stuff. It was as if he flung loads of moral garbage into a book and got it published.

My goodness..
I'm not an official connoisseur of literature, but I liked Rage as much as most everything by sK I've read. I thought it was pretty well written, not amateurish, very professional, actually.